“A Community Church for Those Near and Far.”

The church building before you was erected at Camp Hulen at Palacios, Texas at the beginning of the nineteen-forties when the nation was preparing for war. As part of a huge construction effort, which transformed a tent camp into an anti-aircraft artillery training base, this
church was one of four — in fact the main chapel — which served all creeds and religions and thus was ecumenical in every sense.
The end of World War II heralded the termination of Camp Hulen as a training base since Fort Bliss, Texas took over as the anti-aircraft artillery center. Along with many other buildings, the church became surplus to the needs of the army and was offered for sale. This same situation developed in many other bases across the United States.
Coincidentally, the Ansgar Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was consecrated adjacent to this site in 1909, was totally destroyed by a hurricane on August 17, 1945 — interestingly the same year that saw the termination of World War II.
One can only conjecture at the timing of these two separate but allied incidents. This chapel needed a home and the Danevang community needed a church. The upshot of it all was a decision to purchase this church and move it to its present site before you. It was dedicated on December 14, 1947.
The movement of the church to this site



was not accomplished overnight. It was disassembled in part and moved twenty-five miles north to Danevang where it was reassembled on its present site. The bell, which hung in the original church and which was rung at sunrise and sundown daily, survived the hurricane and lives on in the steeple above you. Likewise, other artifacts, such as the painting of St. Angar baptizing a child and the altar table which were salvaged from the wreckage, reside in the church today.
Thus, the church before you has become a full fledged member of the Danevang community and continues to provide the glue which has held the community together since 1894.
Welcome to this House of Prayer

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Show me all markers in:  El Campo, TX  |  Wharton County  |  77437  |  Texas  |  United States of America

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Danevang Community Hall
Ansgar Evangelical Lutheran Church and Cemetery
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